Is racism quite prevalent in the USA??

[vocaltest]

Please excuse the rubbish title, it was the only non long winded title I could think of!

I've just been reading through the thread on here about interracial relationships (http://specktra.net/f262/interracial...opinion-65125/) and I noticed a lot of people commenting with for example 'I'm caucasian/black/latino/asian/mexican/indian and my partner/fiancé/husband/boyfriend is caucasion/black/latino/asian/mexican/indian and we have had some stares out in public before' and so forth, and it seems to be predominantly coming from US posters.
Also I noticed a lot of comments such as 'my parents/grandparents want me to marry/be with a 'caucasian/black/latino/asian/mexican/indian boy'. I know without generalising that a lot of 'older generations' (not all of course) can be stuck in their morals and beliefs as I've been told of stories like this before.

Anyway, from reading this thread and I'm guessing overall its probably not a problem, but just out of curiosity is racism quite prevalent in the USA?

I'm from the UK, and although its obvious that racism does occur here, (I'm not saying the UK is perfect lol) I personally am not exposed to it. I've never been in a situation where I've been with my friends/boyfriend/family/by myself out and about whether it be a shopping mall, town, a train station, a nightclub, school, university and have heard or seen any form of racism occur. However, the media here recently have been highlighting a huge amount of stabbings/shootings in the UK. I can't remember the exact figures, but its along the lines of there have been more stabbings/shootings in the UK/London in the past six months than there was last year all together, and these stabbings/shootings have more often than not been racially motivated as far as I'm aware (don't count me on that).

I don't want any arguments to start from this thread btw, its just general curiosity. I haven't researched elsewhere about this topic, its just a general consensus I'm getting from reading that thread, that it might be moreso prevalent in the USA compared to elsewhere. Maybe I'm just naive and haven't been exposed to it before, as I've been raised to be accepting of everyone whether they're white black green red pink or blue haha. I know obviously the whole of the USA isn't on Specktra lol so it'll be hard to get an overall idea, but I just want to know where you're from, and if its a major issue there or whether its just area to area like it probably is (I don't know however) here. I guess also its hard the judge as predominantly Specktra has USA posters, moreso than any other countries so obviously the more of one there is, the more opinions of that one will come from. Also I don't want this to sound like 'All Americans are racist' either! I just read over it and got worried it may come off like that, its not at all! I know theres narrow minded people everywhere!

Hope that all makes sense, I look forward to everyones opinions

 

[malteze_bubbleg]

personally i think its more prevelant in the US. i was born and raised in europe and when i moved out here to the US (living in the south)....i heard many people ( black people and white people) talking about " those white folks" or "black people".....and i think its very sad because at the end of the day , like i tell my bf (who is blk)......they are all americans (born and raised in the same country, schools etc).
maybe its because of the history, i have no idea....but i wish the world in general was much nicer to each other!!!!

Promote LOVE!!!

 

[SkylarV217]

Unfortunately yes.... I saw a girl at the grocery store today with a swastika tattooed on the back of her neck... It made me hurt to think of the hatred that is still very much alive today.

I live in the south and there are a lot of hateful people, but while there is still racism there are people that try to move past that. In the end all racism is, is ignorance.

 

[aziajs]

In a word - yes.

 

[nursee81]

There are many times when you think that racism doesn't really exist anymore but then it comes back and bites you in the a$$.

 

[Brittni]

I think a word to sum it up would be ignorance. Racism stems from ignorance, imo.

I do think it's here. It to some degree unfortunately always will be.

 

[TISH1124]

I guess I have been very fortunate both living in the Midwest - Ohio and now in the South - Texas to have NOT experienced racism. The color of my skin has never held me back from getting jobs, etc. I make a very good living and hold a very high position and so does my husband...He is a Electronic Engineer as well as owning two businesses. I have friends that are black, white, hispanic, asian and they are in same race and mixed race marriages. I can't recall them even talking about being discriminated against due to their race. Maybe it happens and I don't notice or maybe I subconsciously choose not to notice, not sure. I do business with clients like BE, Victoria Secrets, Ikea, etc and I have never been shunned due to my race, actually I have been super successful. My son has never mentioned any of the kids at Lake Highlands mentioning race..He just says my bestfriend is a white boy and my other friend is a brown boy and that was only because he couldn't remember their names. I guess I have been blessed and I am glad I live in a time that I have not had to personally experience racism. I think people either like or don't like me for reasons that have nothing to do with my skin color.
Oh wait my bestfriend Maria who is an American born Vietnamese says she experiences racism when she goes to the nail shops...They are offended that she doesn't speak the language and they won't do her nails..so she goes to the non-vietnamese nail shops

 

[tara_hearts]

I think it would be hardpressed to say there were an abundant number of racsists when there is an african american presidential nominee. I think there is ignorance in the usa as well as everywhere else.

 

[M.A.C. head.]

I mean...I've never been outside of the U.S. so I can't say for sure that racism is more of a problem here compared to other places; but it's definitely a huge problem here.

 

[M.A.C. head.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tara_hearts I think it would be hardpressed to say there were an abundant number of racsists when there is an african american presidential nominee. I think there is ignorance in the usa as well as everywhere else.

So racism only pertains to African Americans?

There are many people who are against Barack Obama purely because of his blood line. Threats are being made on his life and the lives of his loved ones, because of his heritage...so is it really so "hard pressed"?

 

[aziajs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tara_hearts I think it would be hardpressed to say there were an abundant number of racsists when there is an african american presidential nominee.

I disagree.

 

[pumpkincat210]

Quote:

Originally Posted by M.A.C. head. So racism only pertains to African Americans? There are many people who are against Barack Obama purely because of his blood line. Threats are being made on his life and the lives of his loved ones, because of his heritage...so is it really so "hard pressed"?

No, it's pretty much every race unfortunately.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Whether it's more prevalent in the US, I can't answer. I have friends who are Indian (born in the US but raised by parents who are Indian) who'd probably get disowned if they married non-Indian. Their parents would probably be like that if they were in India or any other country. There's a Chinese place in Chicago that is blatantly racist towards any non-Chinese; I've been there twice and refuse to go back. Once we went, and they claimed they couldn't make one dish. A Chinese family came in later and they received said dish. The next time we went back, one member of our party ordered in Chinese, and the service was excellent. The waitstaff consists of immigrants (heavily accented English). There were black students when I did my undergraduate who wanted the school to hire one professor on the basis that the person was black; I never heard them comment on anything but the professor's race, which I found sad. Because of outsourcing, some white people feel that the Asians or the South Asians are stealing jobs from them.

Racism very much exists in the US. From personal interaction (people of every color have called me a "chink" since I was in kindergarten) to bigger scale things (remember those Abercrombie shirts?)- it still exists. There has also been a rise in interest in white supremacy; it's scarier now because they're educated and you almost have to read in between the lines to get that they are racist.

How much you'll experience varies from place to place (some places are better) and luck.

 

[M.A.C. head.]

Quote:

Originally Posted by pumpkincat210 No, it's pretty much every race unfortunately.

It was a rhetorical question.

 

[SkylarV217]

I think every group of people has some one that discriminates against them. There are groups of White Americans that still hate black Americans. There are black Americans that hate white Americans. Its not just about black and white. There are people that refuse to go to Indian owned gas stations hence the "American Owned" signs .... What really gets me are the racist people that don't even know the origin of the person they are discriminating, apparently everyone from the Middle East is the same race now .... And every Spanish speaking person is Mexican....

In the end, I think the kids of South Park had it right =D.... One of my Fave episodes is about the changing of the South Park Flag that depicted a Lynching... People believed to it be racist ( obviously ) and wanted it to be changed, but the children didn't see a White Mob lynching a Black person, they just saw people and the flag was eventually changed to a variety of different color people hanging a man....

Chef Goes Nanners - 408 - Watch - South Park Zone

I hope that one day my child will see people, rather than races, religion, or sexual orientation. I hope that the world he lives in will be better, life is to short to hate, I wish we could all accept each other and learn from one another.

 

[TISH1124]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tara_hearts I think it would be hardpressed to say there were an abundant number of racsists when there is an african american presidential nominee. I think there is ignorance in the usa as well as everywhere else.

Honestly I don't see how his nomination has anything to do with racism? Because on that note...I can honestly without a doubt say that I have heard people say in restaurants nto talking to me of course that they are not ready for a Black president. The percent of his votes came from African American voters not other nationalities or races. Now, I will say I think his nomination came from people just being tired of being sick and tired of the state of the world over the past 8 years. Myself included.

 

[shootout]

I think as much as we want to say it's not, our country is still completely backwards when it comes to race.
I was standing on the street with an Obama sign last week, when an ignorant man drove by and shouted that I was a "n***** lover". It was probably one of the saddest moments of my life.
I've just recently started dating an african american, and I'm nervous about letting him meet certain members of my family, simply because I know what they will say/think about him.
As sad as it is, it is quite prevalent.

 

[Beauty Mark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TISH1127 Honestly I don't see how his nomination has anything to do with racism? Because on that note...I can honestly without a doubt say that I have heard people say in restaurants nto talking to me of course that they are not ready for a Black president. The percent of his votes came from African American voters not other nationalities or races. Now, I will say I think his nomination came from people just being tired of being sick and tired of the state of the world over the past 8 years. Myself included.

I don't think this was your point, but I don't think people voted Hillary just because she's white.

On that note, there were definitely people who vote based on race (for or against). And there definitely will be when the election comes

How many? It's hard to say. Many people nowadays are smart enough not to be blatantly racist in certain company; they're image-conscious (hence my brother thinking it's okay to call a black person "nigger", if they "deserve it", yet he has never said that kind of thought around any of his black friends)The real progress will be when no cares what the candidate is beyond issues.

Has the UK had a black prime minister?

 

[TISH1124]

Shootout Are you dating my son he lives in Cleveland

 

[TISH1124]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beauty Mark I don't think this was your point, but I don't think people voted Hillary just because she's white. On that note, there were definitely people who vote based on race (for or against). And there definitely will be when the election comes The real progress will be when no cares what the candidate is beyond issues. Has the UK had a black prime minister?

No, it wasn't my point...because I'm black and I voted for Hilary...Most voted for her because she was their Democratic Nominee of choice...I think a lot of people did not vote that were Democrats because #1 There was a Woman running and #2 There was a Black Man and frankly most racist have a problem with both women in charge and another race being in charge. So they would rather vote for someone they don't necessarily think can help this country than vote for the other choices.. A Strong Woman or a Strong Black Man.

One thing normally I Never Ever do is talk about Religion or Politics so I am going to end my responses with this post. Because I think this topic is going to create more controversy than good...

Yes! Racism Exists in the US and all over the world...If that was the question.